*To create a sugar-rimmed glass, take a lemon wedge and rub the drinking surface of the glass so it is barely moist. Dip the edge of the glass into sugar

Party Food/Drinks Contributor: Cineca Newburn

Cineca is a mommy, wife, lover of music and traveling, and a
self-proclaimed food junkie. When not experimenting with new recipes, watching
cooking shows, and building tent forts, she’s a busy wedding and event planner.

Monday, July 23, 2012

I had the honor of chatting with Darcy Miller, from Martha Stewart Weddings on the phone last week about her new line called "Summer Daisy Party"! I want to share our conversation with you & an amazing giveaway but first, you must check out her new collection! It is GORGEOUS!

The latest floral-inspired
collection titled “Summer Daisy Party” channeling the idea of summer garden
parties is created for OpenSky.com by
weddings and celebrations expert and Editorial Director of Martha Stewart
Weddings, Darcy
Miller.

Inspired by life, her
daughter's daisy birthday party and all of the special occasions we celebrate,
Darcy has always thought about how to make any occasion meaningful, memorable
and personable.

The collection launched TODAY on OpenSky and features everything from daisy-themed table clothes, lanterns and stationary –
that can be used for birthdays, weddings and showers.

Daisy Punch Lid & Jars Serve your drinks in style with
daisy-cut Ball jars. These come in two sizes. I like the big ones for adult
cocktails and the little ones for kids lemonade. Our yellow swizzle straw
fits right in for easy sipping.

DIY Decorative Cupcake Stand Kit No matter where your
party is, you don't have to travel with your fine china, our cupcake stand
packs flat and travels light - put it together in a few minutes and create a
great centerpiece! Use the Daisy Double Edge Punch to transform this solid white
cupcake tower into the perfect piece for your Daisy Themed Party.

Darcy's
tip: If your cupcakes have a lot of butter, put circles of wax paper liner down
underneath to avoid grease stains on your cupcake stand.

Darcy's Daisy Lollipops When I set out
to find a lollipop, I knew I needed something special, so I had this
specially created for me! These adorable lollipops have pure white petals with a
sweet yellow center. They come wrapped individually so you can put them on
a place setting, send guests home with them, or fill a bucket or Mason jar for a
pretty display.

Daisy Party Starter Kit (see table place
setting) I've put together a collection of napkins, cups, flags and
much more to help you one-stop shop for your very own daisy party! Your guests
will be delighted by the little details on the tables such as the yellow swizzle
straws.

DIY Party Favor Bundle With this kit,
you'll be ready to assemble some fantastic party favors of jelly beans, sour
balls, gumballs -- and we even have the bags ready for you! Let the kids have a
party-duty in filling these bags with their favorite combo of theme-colored
candy!

Darcy's tip: stay
away from melty chocolate if you're having outdoor summer entertaining! These
candies will hold up to the heat.

Eleni's Daisy Cookies Eleni creates
these sweet daisy cookies which I love to put on top of vanilla cupcakes for a
beautiful display on the dessert table.

You can stack your cookie-topped
cupcakes on our cupcake stand from Martha Stewart Crafts (included in this sale)
or simply put out plates of these cute treats for your guests to
nibble.

Yellow and White Gumball Favors Have I
mentioned that I love decorating with candy? These juicy gumballs and packaged
for you in the tubes, ready to send home as favors, set as place settings &
get creative! Use with the our (DIY Daisy Kit) to
decorate these tubes with a daisy like I
did!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isn't this collection adorable?I absolutely LOVE it & I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that daisies just happen to be my FAVORITE flower! This collection is sunny, cheerful, elegant, classy & modern all rolled up into one nice little package!

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak with Darcy on the phone & she is one of the most down-to-earth & 'real' people I have ever met. A real honor.

We chatted. About inspiration and how it comes from anywhere. A bakery window. Your kids. Anywhere. "REAL life experiences" is where Darcy said she gets her inspiration from.

We discussed details about her new line.Her new "Summer Daisy line" & how it's so versatile & can be incorporated into pretty much ANY theme you may be planning: a birthday party, a baby shower, wedding shower, dinner party.

We laughed.At some of the things we have in common.

We shared stories about our daughters. We both have 9 year old' girls. She happens to have 3 daughters total: 9, 6 & 3 years old. But our 9 year olds, have alot in common. They are typical girls. We shared the different themes they have come up with in the past & how we have brought them to life. Her new collection is named after her oldest daughter, Daisy.

My daughter wanted me to ask Darcy a question, (very cute of her) . . so I did: 'What would be your dream wedding to design?'Darcy had the same response that most of us probably would say . . . she said it was her "OWN wedding" out of all of the parties she has planned, that has been the dream to design.

She said when she is planning an event, she wants people "to KNOW the minute that they walk in that they are at a PARTY!"Amen to that.

Party favor: "ALWAYS!"Love Darcy - a girl after my own heart! =)

"Little details, .no matter how small . . . even hanging a little something from a dining room chandelier will add to the party!"I believe it's ALL in the details.

She told me about one of Martha's parties. A party that involved one of Martha's favorite past times, Scrabble, and how it's so important to connect the party with the person you are hosting it for.

We both reuse.Yes she is ONE of us. She said she will reuse items from a previous party & tends to hang on to the items she knows she could use at another party. She keeps some of her party items, just like us. And her husband may not fully understand her need to reuse either. But she is just like us. =)

I felt like I have known her forever - she was that sweet & wonderful to chat with. Thank you again Darcy for taking the time & we will chat again soon!

Today BOTH of these collections are on SALE in my shop for 60% OFF the regular price!!

This DAILY DEAL is valid TODAY ONLY!
So head on over to my Etsy shop & pick one, of even both of them up!

Go to the Etsy shop & enter 6KFB60 at checkout to get your Happy Birthday Party Pack collections for an awesome DAILY DEAL!! You will find BOTH of them in the 'birthday' folder. **the coupon code is ONLY good on these 2 collections only & anything else added will be charged full price

Have you entered the GIVEAWAY????

If you missed the 1st post about the GIVEAWAY, find it here, as you still have plenty of time to enter:6K FB Fan GIVEAWAY

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

With this DAILY DEAL you will receive:
- ONE Facebook Timeline Cover Design for your business or for your personal page.

I will provide you with:
- 2 different designs to pick from that will fit your 'brand'
- a COMPLIANT FB timeline banner design that adheres to the FB rules
- a finished file emailed to you in JPG/PNG format
**see listing for all the details

Today BOTH of these collections are on SALE in my shop for 60% OFF the regular price or $6.00/ each.

This DAILY DEAL is valid TODAY ONLY!
So head on over to my Etsy shop & pick one, of even both of them up!

Go to the Etsy shop & enter 6KFB60 at checkout to get your back-to-school collections at only $6.00/ea.! **the coupon code is ONLY good on these 2 collections only & anything else added will be charged full price

If you missed the 1st post about the GIVEAWAY, find it here, as you still have plenty of time to enter:6K FB Fan GIVEAWAY

Sunday, July 15, 2012

I am so EXCITED to get this PARTY started! Ever since we hit 6K Fans over on Facebook, I have been planning a celebration that is a little different & I sooooo hope you are going to ENJOY this party! I know I am! ;)

So what do I have in store?

THIS Giveaway! . . . Daily Deals!!!! . . . & more!

Stay tuned EVERY day as I will post the "DAILY DEAL" for everyone - some days it may be limited quantity, some days not. But that WILL BE the FUN!!

Tuning in EVERY day for the next week to see what "deal" I have up my sleeve for you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE Giveaway!

So WHAT do YOU win???!!

For DAY #1 - we are starting the PARTY off by holding a GIVEAWAY to MY shop!

It will go for 1 week & winner will be announced on the last day of the week long celebration!

gift certificate does NOT include logo/blog design

The GIVEAWAY runs through next Sunday night (7/22) at midnight (E.S.T.).

I am so THRILLED to FINALLY debut my new design for my blog! I have been wanting to do it for sometime but I always put everyone else's work in front of what I want to do. But I figured if I am going to start offering BLOG DESIGN then I needed to do mine as one of the firsts!

Here is the 'before' picture . . .

And look at it now! =) Everyone say YAAAAAAAAAAY!

It's not that I disliked my old blog design but I wanted to update, streamline & clean it up as much as possible & I feel now it's getting there. I still am working on all the pages for the tabs at the top BUT I was too excited to wait.

I have a few blog designs in the works already from clients but will be posting info soon detailing the service. Feel free to email me before I post that if you like.

2. tags / toppers/ circles - use for accents to your table decor - simply cut
them out or use a punch, glue to lollipop stick or toothpick & done!

3. drink flags - comes in 2 different designs with the red gingham & the chocolate chip background - attach these to straws or toothpicks for a fun way to coordinate the party decor

4.
food / drink / decor labels - comes with 2 different designs of the gingham print - each will have "one smart cookie" at the top & you have plenty of room underneath so you can write in whatever you need
to label

5. paper pack - use for accents to your table decor - simply cut
them out for what you need - around bowls, vases, mount behind the toppers, use as napkin wraps, place in frames, etc.

6. table signs - you will receive 2 different designs that will fit a 4x6 frame - one will say chocolate milk & the other will say white milk